College Confidential’s “Dean,” Sally Rubenstone, put together 25 of her best tips. Get your free copy of the "25 Tips from the Dean" eBook and get helpful advice on how to choose a college, get in, and pay for it: http://goo.gl/9zDJTM

2260 on SAT, third try

i took the sat 3 times, first with an 1800 and then finally with a 2260 on my final attempt.
don't know much about where this will get me but know that this is a pretty good score...where will i be able to get in if i also have a 3.74 unweighted/4.52 weighted gpa? i'm an incoming senior and will be starting my college apps soon...just want to know where i should apply and if i should bother with colleges outside of my home state of florida?

Ya that's a great score and you certainly have a shot at top 20 schools. Your GPA is a bit of a liability so Ivies may be a stretch but there are certainly quality schools you could get into. Your essays, ECs, recommendations and field of study will certainly affect your application but regardless, definitely shoot for schools outside of Florida.

I highly recommend you just save money and go to say, UMiami. They'll offer you probably a suite room for all 4 years (they did for one of my bros). You can do work for other not-so-smart kids in the school and make some bank too (if you're into that kind of stuff).

thanks, yeah i know i should probably have worked harder at my gpa when i had the chance. isk82live, what do you mean they'll offer me a suite room for all 4 years? problem is my family doesn't have much money so i just want to know where i could get in on some kind of partial or full scholarship. on the sat i got an 800 on writing and 780 on reading so perhaps that'll help when applying? -clueless hah

Well,where do you want to go? Would you prefer to go out of state? Because if you want to, you most definitely can. There are schools out there that will give you merit with your scores. Yea...ivies would be a stretch. That's because Ivies are a strtch for kids with 2400 and 4.0s. But you could absolutely get into some of the top LACs....again, williams amherst and middlbury are reaches for everyone.

thanks, think i will. was just curious about where to start... i've never thought i would be able to get into an ivy school so that's not surprising. i would love to go to university of miami but only if i was awarded some type of scholarship....so expensive.... but i haven't visited any out of state schools and a liberal arts school would probably suit me well. does it help being fluent in swedish? moved from there when i was 8. cheers

@isk82live Misleading. You don't NEED a 2300+ to be "decently competitive". Even Harvard's mean SAT score is 2225. It is true that one should strive for 2300+ on the SAT, but it is certainly not necessary. Unhooked, getting 2200+ puts you in decently competitive, and you have a good shot depending on the rest of the application.

To OP, if you achieved 2260 on the third try, I would say that you're solid on testing. Make sure you have tip-top essays!

yes. people rely way too much on sat scores. if you're active in the community and get scores that are good enough (like a 2200+), then you have a really good shot at any college. one of my friends got into harvard this year with a 2170.

I don't know about Florida but in my state, the state universities would give you either full-ride or near full-ride scholarship with that type of score. My guess is that Miami is pretty similar. You could even go out of state and get lots of money at some schools, if that's what you prefer. Congratulations and good luck with your college search!

I got the same score on the SAT (took it twice). If your W and CR sections are really good, I would suggest applying to liberal arts schools or schools like UChicago, which heavily weigh your essays. SAT scores aren't everything...your scores and GPA are very solid, and if you're a good writer who has interesting life experiences, you should do pretty well in the college process.

hey, don't listen to a word @isk82live he recently made a **** post that garnered 100+ posts. That's an awesome score. I took a prac. SAT the other day for the first time and i got ~1800 :/ my goal is 2200, and im gonna be a junior. do you think i will have time?

@Risubu: If you're going to be a junior, you have plenty of time. Make sure you get the official college board book and start taking practice tests as soon as possible, buy vocab flash cards, etc. The SAT is just a measure of how well you know the test format.
You should take it for the first time in January or March (or both, maybe get it over with by then), take your SAT IIs in May or June (preferably in AP subjects, so the info is still fresh) and that way, when you are a senior, you can be done with standardized testing.

Helpful Links

About College Confidential

Welcome to the leading college-bound community on the Web!

Here you'll find hundreds of pages of articles about choosing a college, getting into the college you want, how to pay for it, and much more. You'll also find the Web's busiest discussion community related to college admissions, and our CampusVibe section!About Us